Two more banks have dropped their interest rates to bring them into line with other banks.
BNZ has dropped its 6 month and 1-year fixed rates to 7.24 and 7.14 percent respectively. It now matches ANZ and ASB, although the other major Australian owned bank Westpac
is slightly higher on the 1-year rate. However Westpac is offering the lowest 3-year rate at 6.39 percent
Kiwibank has cut its special 1-year fixed rate to 6.99 percent which is the same as TSB's special rate. Special rates are for borrowers with more than 20 percent equity in their property.
ANZ started the recent interest rate cuts in early May with ASB following soon after.
The rate cuts come as business and finance leaders pick inflation to fall back within the Reserve Bank's target band of 1 to 3 percent. Inflation is currently running at 4 percent.
The RBNZ quarterly survey showed expectations in the next 12 months is for inflation to slow from 3.22 to 2.73 percent. Two yearly expectations dipped down from 2.5 to 2.33 percent.
Another survey out by ANZ shows its light traffic index has dropped by 1.3 percent on this time last year.
The report says that light traffic, which includes motorbikes, cars and vans, is generally a good indicator of the state of demand in the economy and provides an indicator for the next 6 months.
The ANZ Truckometer also shows its heavy traffic index, which is mostly trucks, rose just 0.3 percent on this time last year.
